Colombo or Pondicherry?

Neither city is built for swimming, but Colombo gets you onto usable sand more easily. Mount Lavinia is a broad beach on the city's southern edge, reachable by the coastal railway, and Negombo's longer hotel strip is an hour north. From December to April the west coast settles into calm, sunny weather.

Pondicherry's seafront is a boulder wall, so beach time means a scooter ride to Serenity Beach or Auroville, or a boat through the backwaters to Paradise Beach. The Bay of Bengal surf keeps swimming to the shallows, and beaches here are for wading, sunsets and fried fish in modest dress.

Colombo offers the deeper table. A rice-and-curry spread of dhal, jackfruit and sambols, hoppers at breakfast, kottu chopped on griddles late at night, lagoon crab and the biryani and dosa of its Muslim and Tamil quarters give you more to work through than a few days allow.

Pondicherry is the more unusual mix: banana-leaf meals and filter coffee in the Tamil Quarter beside French bakeries and Franco-Tamil Creole cooking, with cheap beer and wine that is rare in this part of India. It is charming, but a short stay covers it.

Pondicherry's appeal is the town itself. Walking from the ochre villas and shuttered windows of the French Quarter across the canal to the pillared verandas of the Tamil Quarter is the main event, with the Sacred Heart basilica, the Ashram's silent samadhi and the Manakula Vinayagar temple along the way.

Colombo has the stronger single collection in the National Museum's royal regalia and sculpture, plus Gangaramaya and the striped Jami Ul-Alfar mosque in Pettah. But it is a working port rather than a place to stroll for its looks, and Sri Lanka's great ancient sites lie far inland.

Colombo is the place for a proper night out, if only at weekends. Clubs in Colombo 3 and around Galle Face fill with a local crowd, the casinos stay open late, and arrack cocktails on an ocean terrace are the signature drink, though Poya full-moon days are dry.

Pondicherry's evening is a walk on the car-free Promenade, a long dinner and perhaps a rooftop drink, cheaper than elsewhere in Tamil Nadu. There are no clubs, and the town is quiet early.

Pondicherry gives more to do outside. Surf schools work Serenity Beach, divers head for offshore reefs and wrecks, flamingos and pelicans gather on Ousteri Lake in winter, and Auroville's replanted forest has shaded tracks for cycling, with the Pichavaram mangroves two hours south.

Colombo's outdoors is mostly parks and wetlands: birdwatching at Diyasaru and Beddagana and boat trips on the Muthurajawela marsh. Sri Lanka's rainforest, tea hills and rafting are all a long drive or an overnight away.

Pondicherry sits among some of South India's finest temples, and its outings are the stronger set. The Pallava carvings and Shore Temple at Mahabalipuram, the Nataraja temple at Chidambaram, Gingee Fort on its three hills and the pilgrim town of Tiruvannamalai each make a full day, always by car.

Colombo's best day out is Galle's walled Dutch fort, reached comfortably on the coastal railway, with the Bawa gardens at Bentota and the canal town of Negombo as gentler options. Kandy and the hill country are too far for a return trip in a day.

Neither city does much for children, and the two are close. Colombo has the one real attraction in the zoo at Dehiwala, plus kite-flying on Galle Face Green and a train ride along the coast, but traffic and broken pavements defeat pushchairs.

Pondicherry is calmer underfoot, with shaded French Quarter streets, a Promenade closed to cars in the evening, a boat ride to Paradise Beach and a toy train in the Botanical Garden. Its heat and slow pace suit older children better than toddlers.

Pondicherry is easier on foot. Its flat, quiet French Quarter and Promenade are among the pleasantest walks in South India, and a hired bicycle covers the old town; beyond that, auto-rickshaws, app taxis or a scooter take you to the beaches and Auroville.

Colombo is spread out, hot and short of good pavements, so most journeys mean an app-booked tuk-tuk through heavy traffic on Galle Road. Its advantage is the coastal railway, which makes Mount Lavinia and the south coast simple without a driver.

Both are better for gifts than for serious shopping, but the hunting grounds differ. Colombo has Pettah's wholesale bazaar, a street for each trade, alongside handloom and batik stores in colonial villas in Colombo 3 and 7, with Ceylon tea and gems to take home.

Pondicherry is all crafts: block-printed cotton and linen in French Quarter boutiques, handmade paper and incense from the Ashram workshops, and pottery and soaps from Auroville.

Both are cheap, with Pondicherry a little kinder still. Canteen meals, filter coffee, scooter hire and guesthouses near the Ashram cost very little, and drinks are cheaper than in neighbouring states, though the French Quarter's boutique hotels are dearer.

Colombo is the most expensive place on its island, with seafront hotels and rooftop bars near international rates and heavily taxed imported drinks. Eating where residents eat and using tuk-tuks and trains still keeps a stay very low-cost.

Neither is a stage city, but Colombo has the fixed venues. The lotus-shaped Nelum Pokuna, the Lionel Wendt theatre and occasional concerts by the national symphony orchestra add to Kandyan dance shows with drumming and acrobatic leaps.

Pondicherry depends on chance: a Bharatanatyam recital, a Carnatic concert, an evening at the French cultural centre or temple festival pipes in the streets.

Pondicherry is built for slowing down. The Ashram's quiet courtyard sets the tone, and Auroville adds yoga, meditation, breathwork and holistic therapies with forest guesthouses, while yoga schools run courses lasting weeks.

Colombo's strength is Ayurveda as living local medicine, with warm-oil massage and shirodhara in clinics across the city. But the streets are noisy and hot, and for a full treatment programme most people move on to the coastal retreats at Beruwala and Bentota.